So then we begin our meditation on death.
Start by getting yourself comfortable and upright as always.
And begin with those few deeper breaths,
Using especially the out-breath to calm the mind and calm the body.
One more long breath in,
Long breath out.
And then bring your attention into the present moment.
Let everything else go.
Be with yourself in this moment and come to your breathing.
Mixing the mind with the breath for the first few moments,
Just be there with your breath going in and your breath going out.
And then we begin to consider the first three points.
The first one,
Which is that my death is completely certain.
Doesn't matter how rich or poor we are,
Healthy or unhealthy,
Famous or insignificant,
Everybody dies.
Of all the people that lived a hundred years ago and went through their daily struggles just as we do,
All of them are gone now.
All the people around us now in about a hundred years time will all be gone.
Nothing is more sure than the fact that we will die.
And not only is our own death certain,
But the time that we die is coming closer and closer all the time.
Every year,
Every week,
Every day,
Every hour,
Every breath we take is another one closer to death.
For other things in life we can take a break and a holiday or a rest,
But between now and when we die,
The time will always be slipping away.
Without any break.
And that time goes quicker and quicker the older we become.
So that we're literally running faster and faster towards the time of our death.
Just as the last year or decade seems to have gone very quickly,
The time between now and when we die is going to go even more quickly than that.
And we will look back and think,
Where did that lifetime go?
And we will look back and think,
Where did that lifetime go?
Every moment is another one closer to death.
And we may feel that there's plenty of time left between now and when we die,
But when we take away working,
Sleeping,
Washing,
Eating,
Time we actually have to be here in this life,
To enjoy our life,
To live a meaningful life,
Is actually very limited.
We may feel we have 20,
30,
40 years,
But in reality it's much,
Much less than that.
A matter of months or even weeks of meaningful time.
So we reach that conclusion that since our own death is coming,
Since our own death is completely certain,
To use this life while we're here,
To make life meaningful while we're still alive.
And let that conclusion,
That thought,
Come down to a feeling and be with that feeling for a few moments.
Be here in our life while we're alive.
And then we think about the second three points,
The first one,
That the time of our death is completely uncertain.
Nobody can say how long they'll be alive.
Babies die,
Children die,
People die as teenagers in their 20s,
30s,
40s,
50s,
Any age death can come.
Doesn't matter if you're in the middle of plans or work or goals you're trying to achieve.
Right in the middle of those things death can come.
None of us can say whether we'll be born,
Whether we'll be alive rather tomorrow.
We can say we'll probably wake up tomorrow morning,
But nobody can say they definitely will.
None of us know whether this is our last day or not.
Of all the people who will die today in the world,
Most of them are not thinking they're going to die.
But at the end of this day they'll be gone.
And why is the time of death so uncertain?
Because there's so many things which can cause death.
There's said to be over 400 fatal diseases.
But we can die in accidents,
A car accident,
A plane accident,
Crossing the road,
Natural disasters,
Be caught in a conflict.
So many things can cause death.
And this body that we have appears to be very strong and immutable,
But in fact it can be knocked down so easily by a virus that we can't even see,
Can knock it out in minutes.
Or it can be knocked over.
This heart can stop,
The breath can stop,
Only the breath going in and out keeps us alive.
Just for heart beating.
This body is extremely fragile.
So then we reach the conclusion which that since death can come at any time,
Even today,
Even tomorrow,
Now is the time to be alive.
Now is the time to make our life meaningful.
And not wait for next week or next month,
Which may never come.
And again let that conclusion come down through a feeling and be with that feeling.
To live our lives right now,
In this day.
And then we consider the last three points that when the time of our death comes,
What's going to matter,
What's going to go with us?
And clearly none of our possessions,
However rich we are,
However many houses or cars or how much money we have,
Nothing goes with us when we die.
Not one cent,
Not one piece of dust.
And neither will our friends or family go with us when we die.
However attached we are to them or they are to us.
We're born alone and we die alone.
Nobody can go with us.
And even this body which we treasure so much,
Which we feel is so strong,
Which we look after and spend as much time concerned about,
This body in the end will be what kills us.
The body cannot go with us when we die.
It'll just be burnt or buried.
So if these things don't matter at the time of our death then to allow them to disturb us or cause us suffering during our life is completely meaningless.
Instead we should focus on what matters because what matters at the time of our death is what matters during our life.
To be a good person,
To help others,
To be kind,
To show love,
To not be concerned with the material or temporary things of this life,
None of which will go with us when we die.
Not create negativity on the basis of those,
Not hurt other people,
Not hurt ourselves,
To achieve things which cannot go with us anyway.
Instead to do what's important and what matters and what's meaningful throughout our life.
Because what matters when we're dying should matter today.
So again let that conclusion come down to a feeling and be with that conclusion for a few moments.
Let's make life meaningful today to what matters.
When we finish by dedicating the merit,
The positive energy we've created in our practice,
May that lead to the end of suffering for ourselves and all others.
And may it bring about complete happiness for all living beings.
Thank you.
